I’m going to be doing a days teaching on the HND fine art course at Birmingham Metropoliton College on Monday. I’ll be giving a talk about my work first thing in the morning, and then doing 1-to-1 tutorials for the rest of the day. Should be fun.

Posted by Rich
Diary,  Talk,

Comments [0]

Artists in dialogue for the Survivalist Series: Ania Bas, Pablo Perezzarate, Brychan Tudor and Rich White. 18:30-20:30, 20 November 2014, Cardiff MADE.
More info.

Posted by Rich
News,  Talk,

Comments [0]

I ran a drawing workshop at Staffordshire University on Friday. The morning was a look at drawing in the loosest sense - drawing with objects and other materials. The idea was to use found materials as the starting point for the ‘drawing’ - how do they behave? What happens when you do certain things to them?

Then in the afternoon we used more traditional methods, but still looking at ideas of process, repetition and the medium dictating the form and structure of the drawing.

It was a really good day, the students were enthusiastic and really got into it, producing some great pieces of work.

Posted by Rich
Diary,  Talk,

Comments [0]

I went to the seminar ‘The New Economy of Art: What are we worth? Artists and the Economic Crisis’ last night. It’s part of a series of discussions run by Artquest, CAS and DACS. It began with a panel discussion chaired by Gilane Tawadros with John Kieffer, Zineb Sedira and Bob and Roberta Smith, and then opened up to the audience for questions and discussion.

As usual I couldn’t think of a question until later on (I really have to work on that!). It was interesting and the panel spoke well, with tentative advice and supportive sounds (with the best advice coming from Sedira: “ask for a fee”), but I didn’t feel that they actually answered, or at least addressed, the question in the title of the seminar: What are we worth?

The problem I seem to come across most in my practice is that a large amount of the general public think that art is a waste of time and money. The measures the current government are bringing in (or taking out!) only go to compound this idea that the arts are the least important aspect of our society. Granted, they are not the most important either, but they have a place. Both Kieffer and Smith stressed the importance and impact of the arts in England; Smith particularly, eliciting ripples of applause for his rallying cries. But they’re preaching to the converted. Everyone in the room was either an artist, an arts professional or some kind of cultural engineer. We know art has an inherent value, we know that society will be a worse place without art, without theatre, without cinema, without music. My question to the panel would’ve been: what can we do to prove our worth - to convince those that think art is not for them to think otherwise?

Posted by Rich
Diary,  Politics,  Review,  Talk,

Comments [0]

What are we worth? Artists and the Economic Crisis
Going to this event run by Artquest, CAS and DACS. Looks interesting.
Speakers include: John Kieffer, Zineb Sedira and Bob and Roberta Smith.

Posted by Rich
Diary,  Politics,  Talk,

Comments [0]

Text from my talk at AIR Salon at Core Gallery on 13.06.11.
Download the PDF.
Some of the text has already appeared in Modes Of Practice.
It was a very good night with lots of stimulating conversation.

Posted by Rich
Diary,  News,  Politics,  Talk,  Writing,

Comments [1]

My text for ‘Modes of Practice in an Age of Austerity’. A talk and workshop looking at what artists can do to survive the cuts.
PDF version.

More...

Posted by Rich
News,  Talk,  Writing,

Comments [0]

How do we survive the cuts without sacrificing or compromising our practice, ethics and professionalism?
Talk and discussion delivered by Artists Emily Speed, Rich White and Anna Francis on 12 March, 13:30-16:30 at The Exchange,  Stoke-on-Trent.

Modes of Practice in an Age of Austerity is an event for artists and other creative practitioners to explore and discuss strategies for survival in a time where cuts threaten to obliterate the art world in the U.K. and beyond.

Artist Emily Speed will talk about her practice and approach to ‘Getting Paid’ as discussed in her a-n blog.

Artist Rich White will discuss how he assesses opportunities not just on how much money they bring in, but in terms of other benefits as well, and how a practitioner whose work is not saleable in the traditional sense survives in these difficult times.

The event will culminate in a group discussion activity which will aim to create a dialogue and explore the issues that artists face in light of the cuts, we will then come up with strategies for avoiding bad practice. We will aim to set out ideals and a set of rules which will form the manifesto: Modes of Practice in an Age of Austerity, which will be turned into a working document designed by Rich White, Emily Speed and Anna Francis - and will form a petition for artists to sign up to after the event.

Be part of something important. Please see The Exchange for more info.

Posted by Rich
News,  Talk,

Comments [0]

Essay about my practice and art in general during the ‘age of austerity’.
Download the PDF

It was delivered as a talk at INTERROGATION: West Bromwich - a month-long project exploring the impact that artists can make using short, sharp interventions in the public realm.

UPDATE: An edited excerpt was published in a-n magazine in November 2010.

More...

Posted by Rich
News,  Talk,  Writing,

Comments [0]

Following the success of INTERROGATION: WALSALL September will see INTERROGATION: WEST BROMWICH. I will be acting as guest artist/mentor on the Site-specific mission.

Anna Francis’ INTERROGATION projects ‘explore how…  art… can connect with public realm space.’

From the brief:
The concern this year will be to investigate how artists are bridging gaps - gaps in infrastructure, regeneration and consultation processes, and bridging gaps between people and cultural activity. This will be done through four interrogation days using four different methodologies:

INTERROGATION: ACTION RESEARCH (08 September 2010)
INTERROGATION: PARTICIPATION (15 September 2010)
INTERROGATION: SITE SPECIFIC (22 September 2010)
INTERROGATION: INTERVENTION (29 September 3010)

Each ‘interrogation’ will last a full day and will see around 20 artists (5 per day) becoming secret agents - learning about different approaches to each of the methods and then planning their own approach, supported by the guest artist and Anna, and going in to the town centre, to put theory into practice, interacting with the public of West Bromwich.

Each ‘interrogation’ will produce a set of evidence and information which will be displayed, to build up a picture of West Bromwich and the role the artist can play in ‘bridging the gap’.

The findings of each interrogation day will be displayed in the town in an empty shop space which we will be using as or HQ for the duration of the project. There will also be a symposium event to disseminate the findings of the programme and to share our approach with other artists and regeneration professional alike at the start of October 2010.

See Longhouse for more info.

Posted by Rich
News,  Talk,

Comments [0]